The Loop

McCarron attempts to clarify his remarks

February 01, 2010

Caught at the center of the square-groove debate thanks to his pointed remarks about Phil Mickelson's use of a Ping Eye 2 wedge, Scott McCarron issued the following statement on Monday:

*After two days of careful contemplation I have decided to release this statement in hopes of setting the record straight.  On January 28th, I was interviewed by Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle.  Ron asked me what I thought  about "Phil and a couple other guys playing the old Ping Eye 2's" and I responded "It's cheating and I am appalled Phil has put it in play."  Despite contrary reports by the media, both in print and on TV, I never called Phil Mickelson a cheater. That being said, I want my fans, sponsors, and most importantly, my fellow players, to know that I will not be silenced and I will continue my efforts to get the groove issue resolved.

The issue is this:  The grooves in the Ping Eye 2 wedges are square.  Square grooves have been deemed non-conforming by golf's governing bodies as of January 1st.  The radius of the grooves in the Ping Eye 2 wedge is non-conforming by the  2010 ruling set forth by the USGA.

The USGA and the PGA Tour were made aware of this potential issue by its players last year. Instead of acting or addressing the matter, the Tour chose to put  the onus to comply on its players.  Unfortunately, a handful of players have chosen  not to comply and that is what has led to this current ordeal.  In my opinion, as a 16-year veteran of the PGA Tour and a member of the TOUR's Player Advisory Council, the tour must now put a rule in place to protect the field and ban these wedges. Most of the players on the PGA Tour feel the loophole in this rule needs to be closed.

Instead of focusing on the handful of players who made the choice to use the Ping Eye 2 wedge, I think we should focus on the overwhelming majority of PGA  Tour professionals who chose to do the right thing and play clubs with legal grooves.  I applaud them.  I am still appalled by the fact that any player would make the choice to put this controversial wedge in play and I stand by my previous comments.

Finally, I would like to apologize to Farmers Insurance and the Farmers Insurance Open.  You put on a wonderful event and I am sorry if my comments had any negative effect on your tournament.   In closing, this statement will be my final comments on this matter as it pertains to player usage of the Ping Eye 2 wedge.  Please be respectful of my wishes as I am ready to get back to playing golf. *